7 Day Inquiry
by LSgrimm91
Summary: A lot can happen in 7 days. Love is lost, and found. Our agents battle the with the bottom-feeders of humanity in more ways than one. Full of detail and angst, three seperate tales intwine during a 7 day inquiry.
1. Monday

**Disclaimer: if I owned anything I wrote about, I wouldn't need a disclaimer. I do own Frank miller though, and I choose to make all Scully's boyfriends evil or assholes!! MUAHAHAHA!! (Except Mulder, duh) and I just found out frank miller is like, a producer for **_**the spirit**_** or something. No association intended.**

**Story summary: an assignment pushes Mulder and Scully closer together than they realise, Scully considers her personal happiness with her new boyfriend Frank miller and things fire up at the firing range. One of the more complicated stories I have written so far.**

**Chapter summary: Skinner is requested to supply field agents for a rescue and raid operation on a cult community. Scully muses on her relationship with her to-good-to-be-true boyfriend Frank miller. Mulder is sent on a little guilt trip.**

**A/note: parts of this story came from an idea that I randomly wrote before I published 'birthday cookies' or '2012- the return', although those were my first published stories, **_**this**_** was something I scribbled down in my note book before that. I've never done multiple story plots before, but I hope its firm, interlocking structure will save me. This story only goes for seven chapters, one for each day of the week; initially I intended to publish them out of order, but figured it might be too complicated. **

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**CHAPTER ONE- MONDAY**

Overcast mornings were the worst.

Skinner flipped on the light switch as he passed through his office door. Normally, the natural light that shone through the large window behind his desk was sufficient enough to light the room. It was these muggy, overcast days that made him tire quicker than normal. Working in an artificially lit office reminded him of late nights, and he became easily sleepy.

He deposited his heavy briefcase next to his desk with a small thump. He fell into his prestigious leather chair with uncharacteristic laziness. He removed his glasses and began rubbing a smudge away with his handkerchief.

"Arlene? When you get the chance; can you bring me a really big cup of coffee?" he yelled through his open office door to his assistant/ secretary, Arlene.

She came and leaned into the office by the door frame. "Black with one sugar?" she said rhetorically.

"I think it's early enough to warrant that" he said nodding, as he straightened himself up in his chair.

How he took his coffee or tea was entirely dependent on either the weather, or his mood, the content of his schedule or the amount of hours he had worked. Luckily Arlene quickly learned exactly how and when he needs one. Sometimes she would walk in with one just as he was about to ask for it.

She deserves a raise.

He replaced his glasses and started sifting through the pile of folders and documents that had seemingly accumulated overnight on his desk. There was one from the cult and ritualistic crimes department marked 'urgent' that caught his attention. He scanned the document on the first page.

"Agents requested for assistance... possible hostage situation in cult establishment... experienced field agents preferred... man power for raid and rescue operation..." he mumbled occasionally as he read the minute before him.

He shut the folder and stared into the open space in the middle of his office.

"Arlene? Can you send for agent Mulder and agent Scully as soon as they arrive?" he said dismissively his secretary as he put the folder at the bottom of the pile.

"I'll place a call to their office at nine Sir." She said from her desk.

Skinner raised is eyebrows. That's right; not only had she virtually memorized his itinerary for each day, but she knew what time all his agents arrived and left work. Even if he carried around a personal organizer, he could never compete with her.

She deserved a very big raise.

-----------------------------

Scully briskly climbed the steps in front of the J Edgar Hoover building, her windbreaker billowing at her sides in the stuffy breeze.

She didn't often use the front door, but Frank had dropped her off this morning and his car didn't have the clearance for the underground car park. 'I guess it's the thought that counts' she thought without conviction. She had only been seeing Frank for about two months now and his attentiveness was considerate. She felt a little uncomfortable with him attending to her all the time; it occasionally became a bit much. She got enough worry and attention from Mulder, but at least he knew what she meant when she said 'I'm fine.'

She frowned as the tailwind pushed her hair all around. She tried to push it back into place. She took the opportunity to properly fix it when she put her briefcase down and walked through the metal detector. The guard picked up the detector wand as soon as he saw her come through the main doors.

She passed through the metal detecting archway. It beeped. As it always did.

She and the guard sighed simultaneously and he ran the wand over her, finishing his sweep over her neck. The wand beeped once.

"Morning agent Scully. You can head on through." The guard said, handing her briefcase.

"Thanks Jeremy. You have a good morning too." She said in her repetitive monotone.

They were used to this routine. The security were informed that Scully had a medical implant that would set off the detectors, which they assumed was a pin in her collar bone. For her it was a sorry reminder of those days she spent in hospital thinking she was going to die. The days were she was _actually, really_ dying inside.

It was the day the metal detector _didn't_ go off she feared the most.

-----------------------------

Dammit. She did it again.

Scully had this weird and unnatural (at least it was to Mulder) obsessive desire to pull all the plugs out of the wall at the end of every day. Most days she would fix it for him and he never had to worry about it; today, she was unusually late.

So many damn cords. There was one for his computer, the copier in the corner, the fan by the printer next to the door, the projector, the television, and more importantly, the VCR.

He picked up a random white cord and plugged it into the wall. Jackpot! The computer hummed with electricity. Maybe if he was lucky, he could get the printer in one short too. He picked up a white cord.

Scully came through the office door and walked past the printer and fan on her way to Mulders desk. "Morning Mulder-" she began.

Mulder flipped the switch on.

The fan behind Scully whirled to life and it must have been set to maximum because it sent all the loose paper on Mulders desk clean off.

"Mulder!" Scully yelled. She was incredibly annoyed and Mulder could now see why.

All her glossy red hair had flipped forwards over her face.

Mulder was glad she couldn't see his face; she would have slapped him for his obvious smirk. He turned off the fan and quickly crossed the room to where she was standing. He parted her hair like curtains and saw her frustrated look.

"Morning Cousin It..." he smiled kindly at her. He began carefully running his fingers through her hair until it returned to the back and sides of her head. "There, that's better. Now the whole world can see them beautiful eyes of yours."

She was about to have a go at him for using such a cheesy line, when the phone rang. Mulder left her to answer it.

She went and sat down in his swivel chair at his desk, claiming ownership over it. She didn't listen to Mulder's conversation; she chose to amuse herself by plugging in the printer for him. She couldn't understand why he got frustrated with them. They were all labelled with little white tags.

She heard Mulder hang up the phone.

"Come on Scully. Skinner's got an assignment for us." He said irritably. He preferred choosing his own cases to pursue.

Scully was secretly glad to get out of the office, and being summoned to Skinners office under any pretence other than being in trouble; was blessing enough.

-----------------------------

They proceeded to AD skinners office; they ignored the usual looks they received from their 'fellow agents', the ones that seemed purely reserved for mr and mrs spooky.

Arlene stood up as always to greet them. "Just head on through agents." She said in her usual conversational tone, as she gestured them to the open door that led into skinners office.

She never gave them the look like all the rest of the agents.

Mulder diverted to next to the door and allowed scully to walk in first. He followed close behind. Scully took her place in the right hand chair opposite skinners desk, Mulder sat on the left.

Skinner sat up straighter in his chair before linking his fingers together and resting his elbows on the desk.

"The cult and ritualistic crimes division have been monitoring the activities of a group of religious fanatics living communally in a secure compound north of petersville." He pushed a file he was leaning on across to the left corner of his desk. Scully picked it up and started flipping through the photos.

"Did they find anything they need us to investigate?" Mulder asked with little enthusiasm. Skinner continued.

"Over the last three weeks; the king george PD have been repeatedly meeting concerned families who claim teenage members are being held against their will on the compound."

Mulder's eye twitched. "Teenagers sir?" scully handed him a photo that showed a group of young boys seemingly working some farmland. Mulder wouldn't have considered many of them old enough to be considered teens.

"Unfortunately not all of them. Some of the younger one; as far as we can tell, match some recent missing person's profiles that were made in different parts of the country." He said bitterly. His distaste was purely directed at this group of people, not his agents.

"Who's this sir?" scully held up a photo of a man dressed in a white suit. "He's in several of these, most of which; he is being treated with extreme reverence and worship. And there is several of him hugging children..." scully added some disgust into her last sentence. She quickly handed the folder over to Mulder, as if it was disease ridden.

"Their leader, Jeremiah Turner, lures youths in with the promise of work, support, independent living... and for some of those kids, it looks like a good deal. To the adult, he is a very influential religious leader."

"This doesn't sound like an X File sir." Scully said matter-of-factly.

"True. The agent in charge of monitoring the situation has requested the assistance of some of my best agents to conduct a raid and possible rescue. This is why I am assigning you two."

Scully snuggled into her chair smugly. It was nice to be praised so highly. Mulder jut his jaw to one side.

"Who's the agent in charge sir?"

Skinner bit the inside on his cheek. He sent scully a warning look. She gave a tiny head nod. Skinner raised his chin, "Agent Colton."

"Colton? I thought he was working violent crimes and trying to crawl his slimy rear up the promotion ladder!" Mulder stated without hesitation.

Scully tapped his arm. "Let it go Mulder..." she said wearily. She turned to skinner, "you can count of our cooperation sir."

Without another word; she stood and headed for the door.

"You two also have you annual weapons testing on Wednesday. I suggest you take some practice on the range beforehand." Skinner added as he took the folder from Mulder, who was still sitting across from him, fuming at scully.

"Yes sir." With that; scully left Mulder in the office and shut the door behind her.

Mulder paused before rising out of his chair. He almost made it to the door before skinner addressed him.

"Before you go and harass your partner;" Mulder turned back to skinner, "you should be aware she filed a report on Colton's behaviour after the closing of the Tooms case. He was immediately transferred to CRC division and given a desk job." He stood up and crossed the room to where Mulder stood. "Her report was submitted before his was, and she put up one heck of a case."

Mulder simply frowned in confusion.

"She saved your ass. Agent Colton is going to behave himself because he knows that she'll defend you again. He can't afford another blemish on his record... besides; this is the first time he's been put in charge of other agents since his reassignment. I suspect his pride will prevent him from expressing his opinion of you."

Now Mulder fully comprehended this new bit of information. He nodded and went, once again, to leave. Skinner returned to his desk.

"I've booked the firing range for agent scully and yourself for tomorrow. Given your previous scores; you might want to work on your speed, and she'll need to work on her accuracy. I recommend making the most of your time there." He added as he sat down.

Mulder said nothing and left the office.

-----------------------------

Scully stood in front of the black X files cabinet; one hand flicked aimlessly through the red folders, her other fiddled with her necklace.

She had been incredibly distracted over the weekend. She was deciding whether or not to break up with frank. She found him a little too dominant for her independent self. He seemed to expect her to be dependent on him, which she simply couldn't do. She also noticed his temper and stubbornness. Sure, he had a level of respect for her, as she did for him; he just ignored her not-so-subtle hint to back off.

Mulder approached the office; he paused and reflected before he proceeded any further. He quietly opened the door. He spotted scully and felt a sharp pang of guilt.

"You okay scully?" he said with concern. She jumped slightly and shut the cabinet briskly.

"I'm fine..." she said as she walked over to her briefcase. Mulder was unconvinced.

Famous last words. Mulder came around and stood next to her. "Alright. You know that if you need me, I'm all ears." He picked up a folder from one of the piles that covered his desk; then walked out of the room.

"Cheers Mulder." Scully mumbled once he was gone. At least he knew when to let something go, that's one so far.

-----------------------------

At the end of the day, skinner left work earlier than usual.

He stepped out of the elevator, his briefcase in one hand, and his bundle of keys in the other. He graciously accepted the nods of greeting from some of his agents.

He pushed through the main glass doors and out into the horrible muggy weather he recognized from this morning. Having found his car key he swept his gaze across the car park to find his car.

His attention was temporarily caught by the sight of agent scully approaching Mulder at his car. He wouldn't normally have thought twice about the event; Mulder and scully occasionally travelled to and from work in the same vehicle. It was the particular fact that Mulder seemed to greet scully with a kiss that caught skinner off guard.

His eyes glazed over. For a second, skinner did a double take and felt the corner of his lip threaten to rise into a half smile. He reminded himself that he was still in work mode.

By the time his focus had returned; the car had gone. He knew his reputation as an assistant director was partly contingent on his ability to maintain standards and enforce FBI policy on the agents in his division. Mulder and scully knew the rules. True, it wasn't _exactly_ a rule, but it was very strongly discouraged and often damaging to the agents involved in a relationship.

He turned back to the building and briskly headed back inside. He put his keys in his pocket and retrieved his cell phone. He ran down his list of contacts and stopped at the first name out of the two agents concerned: Mulder. He hit the dial button. He stopped in front of the elevator and waited impatiently for it, and for Mulder to answer his damn phone.

"Mulder." The phone finally replied.

"It's AD skinner. I need to see yourself and agent scully in my office immediately." He said boldly.

"Ah... yes sir." Mulder said and hung up.

Skinner pocketed his phone and rubbed his nose. He didn't wanted have to have a go at them, but it was his job.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Skinner looked up and saw none other than Mulder standing in front of him, punching a number into his phone. Mulder didn't notice him yet.

"Mulder?" he said confusedly. If Mulder was here... well, if Mulder didn't kiss scully in the car park, he must have a twin running around DC somewhere.

"Oh, sir. I was just about to call scully in and meet her at your office..." Mulder said, gesturing to his phone.

"wait." Skinner waved his hand dismissively. "There's no need for that agent Mulder. Apparently I no longer need to see either of you." He shook his head with discomfort. "See you in the morning." He half added. He turned on his heel and left very quickly.

Mulder was left a little bewildered.

"Um... okay."


	2. tuesday

**Disclaimer: I still own nothing. Although I am trying to get the right to the third movie… yeah right.**

**Chapter summary: scully decides to weigh her options. The agents go for some weapons training and are pushed even closer together. Mulder inadvertently makes an analysis of scully and proves he knows her best of all.**

**A/note: its Tuesday! (Actually its Saturday now.) Im trying out different writing techniques and this is one of them. I'd like to publish these accordingly. As in Monday chapter on Monday, Tuesday on Tuesday etcetera. But as me and tashy have always said, DAMN TIME ZONES! And again, im sorry for not updating lately. I've discovered a category, its called UST. If you know what that is, congrats, if not, you will.**

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Okay, so he may not have been the apple of every woman's eye. Not all women would appreciate his unruly brown hair or hazel eyes. Not all women would have admired his height and lopsided grin. His physical attribute, whilst rather appealing to scully; were not always sought by the common female.

Regardless, frank was nothing compared to Mulder.

Mulder was motivated and passionate. He was protective of her, but allowed her the dignity of independent thought, though it often contradicted his own opinion. He respected her beyond his desire to make her believe in the truth he was fighting for.

No, frank would never be able to stand up to what she saw Mulder was.

Admittedly, she enjoyed the title 'Mrs Spooky'. Not because it implied that they were more than 9 to 5 work partners, though they were friends beyond their occupations. She was proud of her title. Being Mulder's partner took her more places and shown her more unbelievable things than any of her peers could imagine. Being his partner let her see the world far more clearly than she imagined anyone could.

The thoughts flowed seamlessly through her mind.

The kettle had boiled a long time ago; she never noticed. She was troubled; she felt as much for her partner and friend at work as she did for her new partner in her personal life; and trusted him far more too.

Guilt was her strongest emotion. It easily crippled her. She was being unfair to frank. The fact she found more painful was that she was being unfair to herself and Mulder together too.

Scully rubbed her forehead. Her palm was moist. Stress from anxiety, apprehension? Maybe. Probably. Her face, her hands. She couldn't tell which showed her fear better.

Ignoring her morning rituals, she left for work.

------------------------

Mulder sat on the ammunition bench. His gun was loaded and he had filled his and Scully's spares. The first half of the day practice was moving targets. Excellent, his favourite. Not. He wouldn't put it past scully to hit a fly at half a mile. He tended to spend too long aiming, and by the time he pulled the trigger, the target was gone. It was static targets at which he excelled.

Just as he went to check his watch for the forth time; scully stepped onto the range. Whoever thought of putting an indoor range on the sixth floor of the J Edgar Hover building was a complete genius; although the people working on the fifth and seventh floor would strongly disagree.

"Morning sunshine. Someone decide to sleep in?" Mulder poked.

"I was here earlier. I waited for you at the office but I got bored and came up here. I didn't know skinner booked the range so early." Scully said, pulling off her white jacket.

"You didn't get the note from Arlene?" Mulder said casually as he put his hands in his pockets.

"What note? There was the usual stack of paperwork, but nothing from Arlene." She ditched her jacket on the bench next to Mulder's.

Mulder's eyes went a little wide for a second and he arched his eyebrows. He pulled a yellow sticki-note out of his pocket.

"Uh… this one." He said guiltily.

No words. None were needed. They had never been necessary since they met.

'_Shame on you Mulder.'_

'_I'm sorry scully.'_

'_You're forgiven Mulder'_

'_Thank you'_

"So which round first?" Scully asked whilst removing the 9mm smith from her holster. Mulder did the same.

"Moving targets. I don't think I'm gonna cut the 84 needed."

"Is that the new standard now? Last year it was only 80. Things are moving up I guess."

"Yeah I know. You're gonna have to help me out."

"Give and take Mulder. You need to give me a bit of guidance with the static targets." She loaded a magazine into the pistol, making a click as it did so.

"Deal." His own magazine locked into place; he replaced the weapon on the bench, pointing down the range of course. "Ladies first."

Had anyone else attended to her femininity as obviously as he did, she would have shot them once to make them run away quickly, then a second time for the actually comment; she had a better chance at hitting them. She tolerated his sexual innuendo and teasing, and consequentially tolerated his occasional attempts at chivalry he reserved mostly for her. Actually, it was probably the fact he reserved it for her that made her forgive it easily.

Scully stepped up to firing booth and pointed the weapon down the range. She removed the safety switch with her thumb.

"Ready." She waited.

"Fire away" Mulder encouraged as he pressed the start button. The course was fully computer controlled and electronically scored. The static course was easy enough (or at least scully made it look so), 20 target come into view for about 3 seconds and then disappear again. Scully hit every single one. It bewildered Mulder that she could do so well on moving targets, yet she couldn't aim straight on the static targets. It was almost as weird as the flukeman.

As far as Mulder saw, by the end of the course, she hit them all roughly in the centre. She turned and smirked at him. Mulder wasn't irritated by her smugness at all. He knew she was only perfect for half the course; he was perfect at the other.

After a minute or so, the computer on the bench showed scully's score. 91 out of 100.

"Nice…" Mulder commented.

"You're up Mulder." They swapped positions. "Remember; don't take your time aiming. Just point it and pull the trigger."

He raised the 9mm. "okay." He said unconvinced.

Scully reset the course and started it. By the end of the run, she could see his problem clearly. It was as she thought; he was still aiming. He was too stiff, too jumpy when he moved. His score came up on the computer screen. 62 out of 100.

Mulder sighed. "That's not good scully." He tossed the empty magazine on the bench and picked up a full one.

She stopped him from reloading by placing her hand on his. "We'll go again. This time, I'll shoot. _You,_ follow my lead."

"Ooh. I love it when you take charge!" Mulder mocked. She gave him 'the look'. "Alright, alright." He resigned.

Scully pointed her on weapon down the range. Mulder, leaving his on the bench, came up to stand behind her. He linked his fingers with hers around the pistol grip. She was too short for him to see down the battle sights; so this would be to teach him to react quicker.

"Ready?" moving one hand to hover above the start button.

"Yeah." Scully replied quietly. Yes, she was intimately aware of his very close proximity. His hand came back to hers quickly, but they had no time to relink. She felt it better they didn't. One hand entwined with hers was enough to distract her.

With his reaction being a little slower than hers, the first few shots were rough and uncomfortable, they weren't in sync. After a few shots, his movements matched hers better. Or maybe hers matched his. One or the other. Either way, she no longer led, they moved together, in sync.

The round flew by compared to the first. It was louder. The targets were bigger. She could smell the smoke from the ammunition clearly. Hell, her senses were so unusually heightened; she could smell the cotton of Mulder's shirt behind her. She was aware of everything around her.

They separated without awkwardness and waited for the score to come up. 88 together.

"See Mulder, you can pass this." She smiled shyly.

"Maybe. 'Cept when I do this tomorrow and get accessed, I won't exactly be able to shoot with you. I'll be on my own." Mulder said light-heartedly.

"I'll be there too Mulder. And the assessor will be there too." She replied, passing him a spare magazine.

"You know what I mean."

"Don't aim-" she began.

"Just shoot?" he concluded. She nodded once and patted his shoulder, offering him her good luck.

Mulder went through the course for the third time. He remembered what she told him. The memory of her standing in the cage of his arms. The feeling of her small delicate porcelain hands wrapped in his. His right index finger pulled the trigger, forcing the firing pin to hammer onto the bullet casing and sent the last round through the centre of the target. He didn't want to see his score. With his eyes closed; he put the safety catch on and removed the magazine, facing down the range the whole time.

"86 Mulder. Another pass." Scully smiled. He turned to face her, a small smirk forming on his lips. "Well done!" She unconsciously gave him a congratulatory rub on his shoulder.

She quickly removed her hand and occupied herself with changing the program to static targets.

"Ladies first again scully." He put the safety on his 9mm for the last time.

"I don't think so Mulder. I'm not fantastic at fixed targets." She said, turning to face him full on.

"Well I am. How 'bout you do this round and I guide you?" he offered carefully.

Had any other agents been in the room, she would have refused his offer politely. But this was Mulder, and she trusted him.

"Alright."

She reloaded. With her gun in her right hand, she raised it to point down the range towards her target. She rested it in her left hand.

Mulder came up behind her gingerly, though his hesitation was fairly well hidden. "Okay, relax your shoulder; you don't need to be tensed up and ready to move." He rested his hand on her shoulder, slightly brushing her neck. "Let the other hand take the weight." He ran his other hand parallel to hers and held onto her left hand, encouraging her to loosen her grip slightly.

"Wait till it recoils and comes back to this spot, before you take the next shot…" he squeezed her hand gently. He moved in a little closer to her neck. "You ready?" he whispered with _very_ gentle authority.

'Ready? Please! You've single-handedly turned me into human putty! It doesn't matter whether I am or not, you say, I do sunshine!' Her inner voice confessed. She mentally slapped her conscience into silence. "yes." She tried to say confidently, but only succeeded in whispering.

He left her. (Thank god, or she would soon collapse) she heard the tap of the switch and watched the target retreat to the back end of the range.

She felt her shoulder automatically tense. She quickly recalled Mulder's instructions. The effect he had on her. Her muscles loosened slowly.

BANG BANG BANG!

The individual shots left echoes in the enclosed range. In her minds eye, she imagined Mulder standing behind her, his arms folded over his broad chest and horrendous tie. She could almost perfectly see the pride in his eyes as he watched her successfully hit the targets.

Of course, all this was based on what she imagined in Mulder.

Realistically, he was probably leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets and happily occupied with a bloody sunflower seed.

Last shot. She took very careful aim and landed it on the inside of the nine line. It was _so_ close to a ten it wasn't funny at all.

She let out a long breath and removed her safety glasses. She saw Mulder out of the corner of her eye. She turned and offered an accomplished smile. Her logic was correct. One hand in his pocket, the other flipped a little seed between his straight frosty teeth. Exactly as she assumed.

Except his eyes did shower pride and admiration done on her like sunlight.

Maybe not exactly as she assumed.

"Sweet shooting scully." He said encouragingly, vaguely pointing down the range. "Looks like a pass from here."

"Well I guess I can live with that…" she sighed in a tone she often reserved for the bodies she performed autopsies on.

He snorted at her. She gave him the eyebrow, "what?"

"I just realised something oddly profound scully. Something I really should have noticed much earlier. Especially given my college education." He chuckled.

Great. He was analysing her. She admitted it was bound to happen. Though she hated when people did that to her. Padgett did it and that creeped her right out.

"Really?"

Scully's score came up on the computer screen. 85. Close call. She didn't let it distract her though.

"Mulder?"

"Huh? Oh right. Nah, I just realised you fit the profile of an only child. Almost as much as I do, if not more so." He stated nonchalantly.

"I do not." She defended.

"Yes you do. Don't argue with my logic."

"You don't know me that well Mulder…" privately, she wanted him to prove her wrong.

"Sure I do. You're an excellent reader. You are comfortable being by yourself when the occasion permits it. Not that I know the specific details of your childhood; I'll guess you were well behaved in school, not a social butterfly and allowed yourself the time to facilitate your creative pursuits." They holster their weapons.

Mulder continued. "You are most comfortable in the company of one or two people outside your family, yes?" they put on their jackets.

Scully nodded slightly.

"You got along fairly well with your parents and preferred the conversation with adults and found relationships with older people more fulfilling than with those your own age."

If she chose to, she could have accused him of referring to her relationship with Daniel. But he gave no notion of going down that path; she let him finish his soliloquy in silence.

"you strive to achieve intellectually and are determined to assert your independence as a woman, but this makes you a bit stubborn at times…" he added that last bit for his own amusement.

He paused and smiled. "How'd I do?"

She gave him a shy but amused all bearing-smile. "I think you only got one very important fact right Mulder."

"What's that?" he held the range door open for her.

"You do know me very well…" she admitted before stepping through the door.

He took his place beside her. "Then I'm one lucky man."

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The office was so boring compared to the activities of the firing range.

She and Mulder sat and wrote reports in their basement office. How entertaining. Not really. She did enjoy the companionship she and Mulder displayed this morning. Though it was shown to no one. She enjoyed the fact they could be so close to one another with out worrying about their proximity being too close for any other agent's liking.

She loved being able to freely give and receive support form him. She was a little tickled with the knowledge that he actually paid attention to her, and knew her better than anyone else did.

God, she was pretty pathetic. It certainly takes a real Idiot to fall in love with your partner isn't it?

What would he have thought? What would he think if he knew he was the one weakness to the mythical armour he so admired her for?

During this silent epiphany, frank didn't cross her mind once.


	3. wednesday

**Disclaimer: CC and fox own everything; I'm just filling in gaps.**

**Chapter summary: scully comes to a conclusion regarding her relationship with frank and ponders the impact it has on Mulder and why she cares so much. Debrief for the raid to take place on Wednesday opens Mulder and scully up to scrutiny about their relationship from other agents.**

**A/note: I'm getting distracted with this story and I'm not finishing the others. I'll finish them. I get my P's on Tuesday! (Provisional drivers licence, like a licence but not a full one here in AUS) so I'm all psyched up and trying to fill my time, cos I can't wait, and this is the result of my anxiousness. Yay! Now I can stay up and write and then go for a macca's run when I need it! Gosh bless the inventor of maccas' runs! (When you go for a random drive for McDonalds at whatever time in the night)**

You would think that she would have worked it out sooner. Maybe she missed the obvious signal. It was so obvious! It was like she had known for a while, but now it seemed to have clicked. Ok yeah, she always loved Mulder. In what way, that's probably where the confusion came in. A friend, certainly. A person to confide in when she occasionally exposed some level of strong emotion, she never doubted. Some one to save her life, she trusted no one else than him. Skinner maybe. She sat at her desk watched him place a coffee cup in front of her. It dawned on her and seemed as real as his presence in the room; of which she was acutely aware. She_ loved_ Mulder. When did that happen?

She blindly raised the foam cup to her lips. "Thank you." She mumbled. Without thinking she took a sip. Because of the horrid cold weather she was quite cold, unfortunately the coffee was not. "Ow!" she jumped. Her exclamation was only slightly louder than the heavy rain that beat on the walls on the floor above.

"Too hot?" Mulder asked as he slumped down into his chair.

"Getting that way."

"Hey scully? How'd you get through the front door without getting wet?" he rubbed the back of his neck. Evil man, using the underground car park. Normally she would too.

Scully leaned under her desk and picked up a black umbrella. She shook it away from her desk so some water would fall off.

"Ah good thinking 99. I reckon I should bring mine more often."

"It's not mine, its frank's." she said from behind her desk as she replaced the umbrella. Uh oh. Busted. Who could she bear to hurt more? Not that it should be at all important to Mulder, but he was important to her. She had to admit, it would affect him and she wouldn't blame him.

So should she do as planned and leave Frank? Well, she was going to do that anyway. She wasn't comfortable around him anymore. She had compromised a lot for him at the expense of her security, and managed to not let it involve work. She made sure to never let her feelings for Mulder influence her decision; though even if he was, the conclusion would be the same.

She hoped she could keep the relationship under the radar. She wanted to separate from Frank and pray Mulder never asked. Though if he did, she wouldn't lie to him. Please Mulder, don't ask…

"Ahh, who's Frank scully?"

Crap. He asked. She looked up over her desk. The evil nit was grinning with the apparently overwhelming curiosity. Damn, she couldn't even tell him a half-lie. Stupid conscience.

"He's just a guy I'm seeing." She chickened out before she could add 'not that it's any of your business, but you might as well know I'm going to leave him because being with anyone but you is wrong. Now leave me to wallow in self pity because I can't have what I want most.'

His grin faded slowly. Very slowly. He rolled his shoulders uncomfortably. She knew she had pushed him into a corner. Time to give him an out.

"Briefing In ten right? Care to walk me to Skinner's office so I don't get lost?" She teased. It was fun to tease him.

She saw him perk up. He made eye contract and grinned. "You? Get lost? Never."

"You never know what may happen. I'm feeling a bit lost Mulder."

He stood and faked a heavy sigh. "Oh alright then, I'll save you." He walked over and offered an arm like a classic gentleman.

Forgetting her earlier sin, she jovially took his arm.

"Why thank you." They didn't move. "I still need you Mulder. You know that right?"

He paused "I know, you always have." He said lightly.

"Always will. Especially when I feel lost, like right now." She beamed. She felt warm and cosy again.

"And I you." They needed to lighten the atmosphere or it might get either uncomfortable, or too comfortable. "Now let's get upstairs before they send a search party."

She squeezed his arm before releasing it and walking out of the office.

Mulder didn't feel threatened despite the competition. He always has some amount of Scully's affection, though it had to be limited.

They entered the briefing room, composed and professional as always. SWAT team leaders, bomb squad supervisors, tacticians, intelligence officers and various other assisting agents filled the room. Skinner and some other supervisors stood to one side of the filled and Colton stood at the front of the seated mass. Some agents stared, others ignored their entrance.

They weren't late, in fact, they were perfectly on time.

"Aah… agent Mulder," Colton greeted politely. Mulder nodded in reply. Colton gulped quietly but quickly composed himself. "Agent Scully…" he nodded, if not bowed.

Scully shifted her weight to stand directly between him and Mulder. She nodded once in response.

Only Skinner noticed Scully's defensive behaviour.

He watched them sit down and fold their arms in their laps in one graceful, synchronised motion. He could see a slight tinge of smugness across Mulder's face and a tense hostility across scully's. Her allegiances had certainly, and distinctly, shifted since the Tooms case.

To Colton's credit, he conducted the briefing calmly and efficiently. The information was well presented and clear. Movement onto the compound at 1800 hours tomorrow evening. Seek out Jeremiah turner and any caches of illegal weapons and search for any hostages. Simple.

He noticed Colton arranged for Mulder and scully to be teamed together in the same raid unit. He could put it down to coincidence, though there were six separate units; so he guessed it was deliberate. He also noted how many other agents reacted. Some smirked, others rolled their eyes. Two agents in the back even had the audacity to snigger loud enough for him to hear. He was disappointed there were witnesses should anyone actually make a comment and he shot them.

At the conclusion of the briefing, everyone rose from their seats. Some left quickly whilst others, including Mulder and scully, stayed behind to discuss the raid. Skinner crossed the room to talk about the range practice they had the day before and their scheduled test for that afternoon. He stopped short of reaching them when he found that Colton had beaten him to them. He kept out of view but stayed in earshot of their conversation.

"_I'm glad you both agreed to help me with this investigation." Colton chirped._

"_Thank assistant director Skinner; he assigned us to this case." Scully said coldly._

"_I hope you two don't mind being partnered in the second unit together?" he added._

"_Not at all. We're partners anyway so it works well for us." Mulder replied confidently._

"_Oh I'm sure it does…" Colton mocked._

Skinner saw scully's eyes snap into lethal slits, and Mulder's hand grab her arm as if it were about to swing. He released it quickly, given the company.

"You'll have to excuse us Colton. We need to speak to AD sinner about our weapons evaluation today."

"Oh. I hope agent scully and yourself take the time off to practice."

"Naturally. Despite the fact that agent scully can get a 98 on moving targets… comfortably." He smirked at Colton's shock. "We'll see you tomorrow agent Colton."

Skinner watched Mulder half push scully away from Colton before she killed him. As they crossed the room, skinner heard a "that was a lie Mulder" and a "I know". By the time they reached him, they were smiling.

Skinner excused himself from the conversation he wasn't listening to and turned to his agents.

"How was your practice? I hope you used to time effectively."

"Very good sir. We both ended up with some excellent results." Scully said, momentarily looking at Mulder.

"Good work then. I suggest you get upstairs to the range and get the evaluation over and done with."

"Yes sir." They said together, then turned and left the room.

Once they were gone, skinner heard Colton's mocking voice penetrate his ears. He caught part of his conversation with the sniggering agents in the back of the room. Something along the lines of, "something going on with those two…", "can't stand to be separated…", "very possessive of one another…", but the phase that made him want to smash some heads was "wouldn't surprise me if they were off together, if you know what I mean…"

Skinner walked up behind Colton and clapped his hand on his shoulder. "Excellent work Colton, you're handling this case rather well."

Colton's momentary shock dissipated and was replaced with an arrogant grin. "Thank you very much sir." he turned his full attention to the assistant director.

"Heck, I might even offer a recommendation." Skinner grinned.

"A recommendation?" Colton inquired smugly. A promotion would do nicely for him.

Skinner pulled his shoulder forward till he could whisper in his ear. "I'm recommending that you shut your mouth about my agents before you find yourself suddenly out of a job."

He pulled away from Colton, who was now white as a sheet.

"Sound good Colton?" he chirped.

"Absolutely sir."

"Excellent. Keep up the good work then. He patted Colton's shoulder again and then turned his back on him. He left the room very quickly, lest Colton had wet himself during their 'conversation'.

The range was cold. Stupid weather. Mulder felt this particularly when the time came for him to remove his suit jacket and endure his evaluation. Scully neglected to bring her jacket. Her theory that hot air rises; whilst true theoretically, was useless when the room you are in is concrete lined and kept at low temperatures to store the ammunition.

He quickly excused himself from his examiner and skipped over to Scully. He offered her his black jacket and whispered "can you keep this warm for me?" to which she nodded. Saved her again. Mulder 1, Scully... some big unholy number.

By the end of their respective evaluations, each had successfully passed. They both incorporated the same method to overcome their weaknesses.

Remember what the other had taught them.

Neither would deny (not to themselves) they used the memory of their up-close-and-personal tutorials to beat their inaccuracies.

Despite how cold Mulder felt, he simply couldn't deprive scully of his jacket, in which she had thoroughly immersed her once shivering little body in.

"Come on scully; it's lunch and I'm hungry."

"Do you often think with your stomach Mulder?"

"Would you perhaps I thought with something else scully?"

She rolled her eyes. "Maybe with that_ apparently_ brilliant mind of yours?"

He grinned and opened the door. She quickly threw his jacket at him and stepped out into the crowded corridor. They walked down the hall; weaving past other agents. They caught the elevator before the doors closed.

They rose to the tenth floor, letting the other agents out. Scully hit the 'B' button.

"So what's on your menu for lunch?" Mulder asked casually.

"Chicken salad and a really big OJ. You?" She replied with unusual glum.

Mulder thought about it. They reached the basement floor. Scully went to step out, but was caught around the waist by Mulder's arms and was swung around back into the elevator.

"Mulder?" He let her go.

"Let's eat lunch out today. My treat." He put a hand innocently on his chest.

Scully sighed. "Alright." Mulder pushed the 'G' button. "Just as long as you don't do that thing again..." she wagged her finger up and down, somehow referring to 'that thing'.

"What? This?" He not only grabbed her around the waist again but picked her up and they both spun around.

She couldn't help but help but squeal uncharacteristically. "Ah! Mulder! Put me down!"

He had no choice. The second he did so, the elevator doors opened before them. That would have been a sight for the bureau. The last thing they needed was for the rumour mill to get a new load of ammunition. It always happened with male-female divisions. But as a two man team, they were more open to scrutiny.

With enough composure to disguise their moment of playfulness; they walked out of the elevator and into the foyer.

"Looks like the rain's let up for a bit." Scully observed.

"Wonder how long it's going to last."

"My bet is it will hold out inevitably." She wasn't a meteorologist, but she cared little for rain. Water belonged to the seas.

Mulder took in a deep and drawn out breath. "Well, I know we can't control the weather, but I found the rain... let's call it disagreeable. If I could have the sun, being all warm and shining; I'd never let it go." He mused as they walked across the welcoming foyer and out the front main door.

She got the distinct impression they weren't talking about the weather. She spotted a patch of cloud opening up. The smallest stream of sunlight shone through and fell beyond the horizon.

"Looks like your sun came through after all Mulder." She pointed briefly to the rays in the distance. "I'm glad you were right."

"I do love the sunshine. I'm not as fond of the darkness as you'd think."

She caught his eye. He grinned.

'_You're not talking about the weather, are you?'_

'_No'_

'_You're talking about me. Us.'_

He smiled wider and shot her a 'well duh...' look to complete the silent conversation. He put his hands in his pockets and began walking down the stairs.

The sunshine wavered through the clouds, almost disappearing. Mulder kept walking. He stopped, turned and smiled affectionately at her. She decided. Mulder didn't deserve to look around in the darkness any more.

**My English teacher would be proud of me, he likes these hidden meanings kind of stories. ha ha, love you guys!**


	4. thursday part one

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. I make no money from writing this stuff. Chris carter is lord and master. There, I said. *huffs* I don't own Ben cos he's based on a friend of mine who begged to be a character. I gave in. **

**Summary: the raid. Need I say more? Probably. Okay, so Mulder and Scully go on the raid on the occult compound. What else... ooh! Scully goes to break up with frank (yay!) but it all goes wrong. 0.o (Uh oh.) And our favourite agents really show their stuff and put 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith' to shame. Mulder acts on instinct and it goes really, really bad.**

**A/note: hi everyone, Grimm greeting you from South Australia again. Cheers to everyone for their love and support, I only hope I can reciprocate. I just watched 'things we lost in the fire', I cried when Brian died. Cookies to David for an excellent performance. *claps* I swear, someone write a movie for him and Gillian! They work well together and I'd love to see more (as well as x files) from those two together. Please! Anything! Oh yeah, this chappie. Grab the popcorn! This one is a massive one! If you think it's a lot to read, I wrote it, phew! And the evil boots I make Scully wear, I have three pairs. It's a cadet thing. They're as evil as they sound.**

**UPDATE: i have written part 2 of this chapter but my computer died (again, its only 2 months old... stupid microsoft) so i lost it :( and may need to rewrite it, forgive me if im late updating the next part. PS: tashy, thats why i never got back to you yesterday, I'M VERY SORRY!!!!!  
**

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The worst part about recently departed rain is the humidity. It's even worse when the temperature soars up to some ridiculous number and makes a sauna feel like the Sahara.

It felt strange to walk through the J Edgar Hoover hallways in tracksuit pants a t-shirt and sneakers. She wasn't the only one. Many of the agents involved in the raid wore similar attire before being issued their black uniforms and tactical vests from the stores. She changed into the black combat outfit. The boots were good to work in, but they weighed a ton and were designed for blisters, especially when they got wet. It was worse when they got muddy because the mud clumped and stuck. She bloused the bottom of her slacks into her black leather boots. Half polyester, half cotton material. They were excellent at keeping the heat in.

She grabbed the sports bag next to her that held her clothes, vest, gun and helmet. She wiped her brow and stood up; feeling the weight of inch thick rubber soles of the boots beneath her. She swung the bag over her shoulder and walked out of the locker room. Mulder was standing outside waiting for her, his own bag at his side.

"I prefer the heels, they make you taller." Mulder quipped. She kicked him in the side of his boots. Her boots were shinier.

"Be nice or I'll knock you over." She teased.

They walked down the hallway. Passing through the offices they would occasionally pass an agent sporting the same overbearingly hot clothes. She felt the moisture from across her back and face.

"What time are we meeting at King George PD? Three?" Mulder asked.

"Yes, but it will take us about an hour to get there. So we have about..." she looked at her silver watch. "An hour to kill. We could do paperwork or something."

"Hah! I am not doing paperwork in my spare time Scully. Why don't we head off now and just go the long way?"

They stepped out into the underground car park. It had been a while since she had been down here. She was glad to be going with Mulder.

"Sounds good. Just as long as we get to run the air conditioner." Mulder's car beeped when he unlocked the central locking mechanism.

"No argument from me." He opened up the boot and put his bag on the left side, she put hers next to his on the right.

The air conditioner was running when she took her seat in the passenger's side. Sweet, sweet sanctuary. They pulled out of the car park and onto the highway heading south.

Mulder was quiet for the first half an hour, leaving Scully alone with her thoughts. She wished he wouldn't; she wished he would talk about something, even if it was the bubblegum conspiracy. The one about how it apparently _never_ loses its flavour, but it actually does.

Well, that was distracting to think about.

She couldn't help thinking about frank and not in the happy sense. Her stomach tightened at the thought of the dinner date she was going on tonight. She thought about how she was going to break the news to him. How could she tell him she was in love with someone else? Her stomach tightened in a different kind of anxiety, Mulder was right next to her and she became suddenly _very_ aware of his proximity.

"Scully?" he prodded.

Blood rushed to her cheeks. Stupid oestrogen. Hormones are so cruel to her. She inhaled deeply and turned her attention to him.

"Are you okay? You look a bit hot over there." He said, switching his attention between her and the road.

'That's an understatement.' She blew a mental raspberry "no, I'm fine Mulder. Where are we anyway?"

"Just south of Lorton. Then we'll stop at Fredericksburg and then head east to KG. You can grab a few Z's if you need to." He turned the radio down till it only drew out a gentle hum.

She wouldn't normally miss the opportunity to spend a mindless hour with Mulder, considering the day she was being subjected to and self inflicted upon herself, she chose to take his advi

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Of all the scenery he passed along the highway, a sleeping Scully was more descriptive to him than a picture worth a thousand words, and soon found his scenic tour to consist of mostly her.

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Officer Antilles greeted the agents in the front office of King George police department station. His brown shirt well pressed

and his shoes polished to a high shine. He had 'paper-pusher' written all over him.

"I'm special agent Mulder and this is my partner special agent Scully." Mulder shook Antilles hand before stepping to his right to allow Scully to do the same.

"Nice to meet you. The debriefing is going to start in about five minute." He began walking down the long carpeted corridor. "The OIC for this op is Officer Black; he'll be explaining the details."

"I thought Colton was running the show?" Mulder asked to no one.

Antilles turned around in front of them. He lowered his voice, "that prick? He's basically organizing this shindig. Black is the one actually conducting the operation."

Mulder and Scully at their ally's obvious dislike of Colton. Antilles turned and continued down the hall. The hall wound around like a labyrinth, though they finally arrived at the briefing room after three corners and two doors.

They entered the conference room filled with agents, officers and some civilian contractors, all talking amongst themselves. At the front of the room stood a tall dark-haired officer with blue green eyes and a magnificent brown stripe in the left. He smiled warmly at the agents.

He pushed his way through the crowd; agents stepped aside for him. He offered them a boyish grin.

"Agents Mulder and Scully I presume?" he directed his attention to the correct person each time. "I'm Officer Ben Black. But you can both call me Ben."

Mulder felt uncomfortable for a moment, and then disturbed when he was eased at the sight of Ben's wedding ring. He clicked, he felt possessive and territorial. If Scully knew, she'd give him an earful till Christmas. And considering it was late summer, he wouldn't have looked forward to the following six months.

"Grab a seat up the front, and we'll get this show on the road." He gestured for the agents to take their seat.

Ben stood in from of an enormous aerial photo of what the agents could only assume was the compound. Scully sat in the front row. Mulder undid the cuffs of his black shirt and rolled the sleeves up.

"The compound can be accessed from roads. There is a road running north to south on the east side of the compound. About 100 meters north of the compound on this road is a dirt track that runs around the compound and along the west side." Ben pointed to the enlarged photo. It basically showed the compound sitting between two forks in a road.

"The plan is to block of the turnoff down this dirt track and push most of the teams up from the south side." He ran his fingers upwards along the picture. "You've all been informed of which unit you will be in." he picked up a clipboard from a table on the side of the room.

"Okay, unit's one through to four, you will be the group moving up through the south. Teams five and six; you will be monitoring the main road. Teams seven to ten, will be at the turnoff. Visibility is limited on all sides except the north, the field makes too difficult to move covertly. Our aim is to locate and arrest Jeremiah turner, and remove all people in the compound. A lot of families are targeting Jeremiah for kidnap" he paused and looked around the room, stopping momentarily at Mulder. "Are there any questions?"

Scully raised her hand. Ben nodded to her.

"What kind of response can we expect?" She inquired. Some of the others in the room looked curiously at Ben, waiting for his response.

"We know there are weapons kept on the premises, but to what magnitude their response is, I can only guess." he replied, shifting his weight across his feet.

"Has Jeremiah been frequently sighted?" Mulder interjected into the sea of silence.

"No. Not often." Ben replied.

"When he has been seen, is he viewed with children?"

"Yes, every time. He is often seen with them, especially younger ones, the older ones work like everyone else. Why do you ask?"

"I've read the profile on Jeremiah turner. As you say, he is often in hiding and always around young children, I believe he see's children of 8 years and older to be adults. If we are met with a retaliation involving guns, you can't bet that some of those carrying them to defend turner will be children."

This created a level of unease in the room.

"I agree, our profiler's made a similar conclusion." he addressed the rest of the room. "We must prepare ourselves for anything. Shoot to injure, not to kill; negotiate where you can. We move in at 4:30pm, it will take a bit less than an hour to get there. Half an hour to gear up and get into position. Let's get going." he walked through the parted crowd and out the door.

"I like him, straight to the point." Scully said, rising from her seat. Mulder simply sucked on his teeth.

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"Shotgun? I haven't worked with a shottie since basic training." Mulder informed Ben as he was issued the weapon.

"You'll be fine. I hear you two are decent shots." Ben said as he handed Scully a similar weapon.

"Depends on what we're aiming for. We can handle it." She nodded. Mulder grinned at her, and raised an eyebrow in agreement.

"Ok, teams head up the tail better get moving into position." Ben spoke to the team leaders, including Mulder. Of the pair, Mulder had the most field experience, by about two years. Scully was still studying at Quantico while Mulder was establishing the X Files.

Mulder turned to his unit. "Okay, we're covering this walking trail that winds up to the south west side. Let's get goin'." His team of five including Scully and himself began walking up the trail. It was fairly narrow and only allowed then to walk in single file. Mulder took tail-end-Charlie behind Scully.

The other three officers were from different departments. Officer Beaumont was a bear of a man, but gentle as anything; he used his own vest, specially tailored to cover his wide chest. Behind him was agent Ellis. He was rather short and had glossy black hair over his olive skin, which he concealed under his black cap. Between him and Scully was Lieutenant Donovan. She was a tall woman who stood almost as tall as Mulder, dwarfing Scully between two giants; exactly where Mulder would have liked her to stay, out of the line of fire.

Mulder nudged her with his helmet, which he was yet to put on.

"I don't even recognise you like that, it's different."

Scully grinned and turned to him briefly. They remained silent for the rest of the walk; when the path allowed it, they would walk side by side.

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Dusk set in, casting a golden wash over the clearing before them. Luke came up behind him; his trusted watchman, he heard the shuffle of his sandals along the old grainy wood. He didn't turn to acknowledge him, and watched the children playing in the hay.

"Father, the walkers have returned with urgent news. They same systemites approach from the south. What should we do?"

This disturbed Jeremiah greatly. He rose from the cushioned rocking chair, the children ran to him as if he called them to attention. He smiled with all the warmth he possessed. They ogled at him; idolising, beaming. He patted the eldest boy's sandy brown hair; he had no biological family left, only the family he lived with, the family his god gave him. The same as Jeremiah, that's why he was his favourite son.

"It is time to hide children. Go to your elder brothers and sisters. Tell them it is time to hide from the systemites."

Some of the little ones gasped. He nodded his head and they all surrounded him in a communal embrace. They ran inside the old farmhouse. They ran from the outsiders, those that followed the system blindly to their deaths.

Now he turned to face eldest son. "Prepare the rest of my children. We must bear arms and fight."

Luke frowned slightly and raised his chin to disguise his worry. Jeremiah walked up to him and placed a healing hand on his shoulder. Relief and comfort washed over Luke like water.

"Go. Lead my children Luke. Show me your worth."

Luke needed no other encouragement, defending his father and family was enough to make him run to his death.

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There was only an orange tinge resting along the horizon to guide them down the trail; but they eventually reached the end. Beaumont turned and called Mulder up to the front of the line. The first team to make it to the compound had to radio through and give the other teams a SITREP.

"The field is wide open. If we wait till it gets darker we can walk straight through the gap between the barn and the shed. Not much room to move but we'll be virtually invisible." he told Mulder. The guy spoke with his hands; adding a gesture to better describe what he said. "Or, we can go now, but we won't be very well covered." Beaumont removed his cap and replaced it with his helmet.

Mulder surveyed the compound. The gap between the barn and the shed was quite tight, though no hassle to Scully or Ellis. The field surrounded the compound entirely, only up to knee height. They could crawl in now, but the going would be slow.

Mulder turned to Donovan. "How many people did you say were living here?"

"About forty. Fifteen to twenty children under the age of 15."

Mulder rolled his jaw to one side, he looked back to the compound and lifted the radio attached to his shirt to his chin.

"This is bravo unit, send."

There was a pause before the radio crackled loudly. Mulder quickly turned the volume down.

"Bravo, this is sunray minor, send."

"Minor, there are no persons visible from the south west side. I reckon we got spotted on the way here. I recommend all teams should wait till dark before we make a move. Over."

"Bravo, wilco on movements in. Wait till the order is given to all teams. Until then you guys are gonna have to sit tight." the voice over the radio said.

Mulder frowned. "Minor, roger wilco, out." He turned the radio volume down further and turned to the team. "Well, I guess we sit and count sticks till all the other teams are ready." he whispered.

They moved back into the cover of the forest and off the trial, sitting in a little circle between two pine trees. Mulder sat on the ground next to Scully, who had opted for a log. Over the next hour, the radio crackled as the others announced their arrival. It was pitch black and still humid as if they were standing in an old style laundry. Finally, the call came through.

"All units, this is sunray. Confirm positions and state of readiness. Over."

One by one, the teams confirmed their positions. All ten teams were ready and impatient to move in. Mulder's team migrated back to the end of the trail.

"Units one, two, three and four. Proceed with caution."

"Night vision on..." Mulder whispered. His unit did as he said. They were too compliant; it was weird. That was probably why he hated leading, working with one or two people was when he was most comfortable. He could only source it to his childhood. But let's skip the psychology for now.

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They moved out into the field, there goggles illuminated the field in a swampy green; across the field they could see one of the other teams. With their weapons shouldered and knees bent, they approached the side of the barn. They slid flush along the side.

It was silent.

There was no movement. No lights. Not even a breeze.

Nothing.

They cleared the barn. Empty. No animals or farm equipment or hay.

His unit was exposed is it came up to the house on the south west corner. They could be seen from two sides of the house. Mulder deviated and came straight up to the back door.

Unit one went around the west side to the front. Unit three came up behind Donovan and waited for the order. Unit for went on the east side to the side door. The radio crackled; only audible to those who wore the radio's.

"Move in."

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**GARH! I didn't want to break up chapters! I guess this is 'chapter 4-A', because this story has only got seven chapters. Aww, man… that's crazy! On the plus side, next chapter I don't have to explain anything, cos this was one hell of a lead up. Damn, I can't get over the fact I gotta break up this chapter. *shakes own head in shock* nuttification….**


	5. thursday part two

**Disclaimer: I learnt my lesson on YouTube; I don't anything, certainly not any of these divine constructs of Chris Carter's. **

**Summary: yes, I fluffed around a little in part one of this chapter, now mulder and scully are confronted with an enemy empowered with something that rocks them to the core, to which our agents can **_**almost**_** compare... blind faith.**

**A/note: my computer came back!! It died the day after I wrote this chapter (13 pages 8,000+ words) and I went slightly catatonic at the fact that I hadn't backed it up and it was lost!! So after crawling out of my depressed hidey hole, I give you (though it is abominably [and disgustingly] late) the sequel to chapter 4a.**

**DEDICATION: to Alicia and Kane, congratulations guys on the birth of baby Sakura!**

* * *

"Move in."

The almost inaudible voice whispered to the team leaders. Mulder shoved his shoulder into the doorframe and cautiously laid a hand on the doorknob. Unlocked. He took his hand off to give his team the thumbs up. The creak in the stiff polyester of their vests could be heard as they tensed their bodies.

Mulder twisted the handle slowly; the knob clicked when it would turn no more. He breathed out through his nose and pushed the door open, letting it go quickly.

Nothing. No sound came from inside. They took this as a sign to enter the massive room. It was empty. Old musty mattresses and grey striped blankets smothered the grainy wooden floorboards. There was no light, only the pale glow from the illuminated overcast skies that permeated through two brown dusty windows. The walls were white with peeling paper and the room smelled of acrylic paint, dust and bread. At least, It could be assumed the walls were white, to them, everything as green from the night vision.

The team moved fluidly through out the expanse of the room. There was an arched doorframe that led into a long, but cramped hallway, which ended with a closed door at the end. Mulder signalled his team to move towards this archway. There were many doors along the length of the hall, as far as could be seen in the darkness; 8 doors lined the hall. 5 were open or ajar. The team split up to cover both sides of the hall at one time.

Beaumont elected to stay in the hallway. Mulder and Ellis worked through the first room on the right, Scully and Donovan took the room on the left. Mulder's room was a kitchen; at least it was at one point. Now all that left was a long trough-like basin, and a standalone bench in the middle of the room, laden with empty food wrappings. An old fridge without a door hid in the corner; its door broken off.

Scully and Donovan entered a large room that resemble a mess hall. Tables made a long U shape around the room, constructed mostly of old school benches; at the head to the table was a single chair. All the rest of the chairs ran around the side of the room. Scully was disturbed by its resemblance to the table in Da Vinci's portrayal of the last supper. It sickened her to think of the man that sat at the head.

The sound of a rifle sling clinging against the plastic stock roused the team back to the hall. They stayed in the rooms. Beaumont shouldered his rifle and was staring down the hall on one knee.

"Beaumont?" Mulder whispered.

"I saw something hit the floor. Something small." He grumbled back.

"All units, bravo, keep an eye out for makeshift small explosives. Out" Mulder muttered quietly into his radio.

He gesture from then to move on to the next pair of rooms. Scully chose to stay in the hall this time. She and Mulder exchanged a look before he left her in the hallway. She stood still, her eyes feeling the moisture of the sweat from her brow. A creak. It came from a strange angle. It was hard to hear with the Kevlar helmets.

A whimper, almost a sob.

Scully's ears perked up. It came from the end of the hallway. One step. Another. Another again. Scully advanced slowly. The sound became more distinct as she advanced. The second to last door on the left is where the noise was coming from. The door was open. She turned to stand in the doorway. The room was empty as far as she could see.

With her right eye she peered through her scope, and with her left, she scanned the room for anything that's stood out form the expanse of linen and rugs that covered the grainy wooden floor. She rounded the doors to look behind it. She saw him. The sandy haired boy gasped at the sight of her. Seeing he was unarmed, Scully sided her rifle and let the sling take the weight. She raised a hand to him.

"It's alright, it's okay. You're safe now." She cooed to the boy raising her empty hand out to him.

"Liar!" he screamed, clapping his hands to his ears and knocking his knees up into his chest.

Within the few seconds that preceded his outcry, several things happened. The floor around Scully roses in a flurry of fabrics jumping up as if they were electrocuted and the roof seemed to collapse around her. At the same time, the relatively suppressed sound of boots and incoherent yelling filled the room, followed soon by the entrance of her team. She crouched down as bits of dry wall fell on her head.

"Scully!" Mulder cried in his throaty yell, filled with fear and dread. It was he that burst into the room.

It took little time for scully for comprehend what was happening. Several people were climbing down from the walls; they had hidden in the roof. Small openings in the floor opened up, granting entrance to even more people. Soon there were almost a dozen people in the room. Some carried weapons, guns, farming equipment, clubs and kitchen knives.

That's when the firing began. Echoes of gun fire filled the expanse of the house. The feel of a hand on her arm jolted her back to reality. Her heart beat hard and fast in her chest. The hand gripped above her right elbow. It yanked her upwards quickly. The arm pulled her back behind the owner's body.

Mulder.

She felt the random tings of shots hitting Kevlar. Some, on her own.

Mulder was yelling hurried commands. He thuds of rubber hitting wood washed over the walls of the aging house. The radio crackled from Mulder's chest, ordering the teams to the pull out of the house. Scully pushed Ellis, Donovan and Beaumont out of the room.

One gunshot came and it sounded like it hit sand. Mulder grunted and wrapped his free arm around her lower back. She clasped her hand onto his shoulder. He pushed her out into the hallway, keeping his body close to her back, his rifle raised at her shoulder.

Every breath, every footstep, slowed down.

Around her, the walls hazed. She caught a glimpse of the rest of the team clearing a path for them. She felt the urgency in Mulder's grip. She was breathing fast. Very fast. She remembered the rifle colliding with her hip. In what seemed like too much time, she shouldered her rifle again; ready to shoot anyone that crossed their path. Though she doubted whether she was capable of shooting a child. Time sped up and the back door got bigger and bigger.

"Come on Scully!" Mulder bellowed to her, throwing them out the back door onto the grass. They landed with a thud. Mulder let out a pained grunt, and coughed into the grass. Scully heard so many sounds. Orders barked from team leaders. Screams from inside the house. Boots on grass going back and forth around them. Scully's heart still raced from the rush.

She turned her head to look at Mulder. He had rolled onto his back, clutching at his left side. His hand was moist and dark in the shadows cast by his body and the moonlight.

"Mulder?"

-------------------

The hum was irritating.

His side still stung, like a hot blade was left in his stomach and surrounding flesh. Despite the pain, he felt relaxed. He felt no need no move. Too much effort. His eyes wanted to open though. He lifted his eyebrows, pulling his eyelids up as they moved. The room was poorly lit, but it looked white. The smell of latex gloves filled his nostrils.

A hospital. Great.

"Mulder?"

That was familiar. He knew that voice. Had to be Scully. Who else would be here to ask him?

Mulder opened his eyes and took a large breath through his nose. He pushed his head forwards. She was at the end of his bed, leaning forwards and looking intently at him. He went to sit up; his stomach muscles twanged painfully. It hurt a lot. He felt a hand on his shoulder push him back into the bed.

"Mulder, lie back." She ordered.

"Ouch…" he whinged.

Once he had settled back, Scully removed her hand. She folded her arms.

"I don't… I don't remember what happened."

"You were shot. The bullet penetrated between the seams in the Kevlar plates in your jacket. Luckily, it didn't reach any major organs."

"Lucky me…" he could feel the point of impact, just below his lowest rib, right along his side, far enough in to hit muscle.

"The hospital is willing to release you into my care. We can go home tonight."

"What happened after? What happened to turner?"

"There was a bit of retaliation. I went with you to the hospital. Ben called a few hours ago. They picked up turner along the northern track."

"He left them?" Mulder inquired, lifting his head up again.

Scully took moment before answer.

"It seems that way, yes."

Mulder released a frustrated breath and threw his head back and stared at the ceiling. Scully continued.

"A lot of the followers surrendered themselves. Some of them were worse for wear. Some were suffering of malnourishment, blunt trauma, and small injuries from the movement during the raid. I think I can safely say they will be physically fine. As for mental and emotional trauma, I can't say." There was a strong bitterness in her final statement.

There was silence. Mulder shook his head briefly.

"Scully, can we just go home? I'm, pretty tired. I'd rather deal with this tomorrow."

"I'll go do the paper work."

She left him to brood. He was frustrated, but tired. He looked at the clock. 12:40am. Damn, it was tomorrow already.

---------------

They took one of the government cars from King George. The drive home was quiet. Mulder spent most of it staring out the window. Eventually they arrived back in DC, and Mulder finally spoke when Scully passed the turn off to his apartment. He turned to her.

"They released you on the conjecture that you were my responsibility. So you'll have to stay at my place tonight. Not that there is much of tonight left. You also have the next two weeks off. I called Skinner earlier. I'll have to pick up my car tomorrow. I'll have your car brought back to my place as well."

Mulder took this at face value. It was another half hour before they finally arrived at Georgetown.

"Let's get you inside. I'll get our stuff after."

"Mmm…" Mulder replied. He was halfway out the door as soon as Scully pulled over; he didn't get much farther. Scully came around and offered a low shoulder.

"Thank you." He grumbled. He was riddled with conflicted emotions. He hated that Turner left the people who depended on him. He was frustrated he was shot and it hurt. He was relieved it was him and not Scully. Secretly, he was excited to stay with her tonight.

Thank god for elevators. He wasn't a great fan of elevators. Subconsciously, he clenched his entire body when they moved. He relaxed his body, and got lucky. He took hold of the rail as it moved, allowing Scully to rest. She stretched her shoulders and stayed in the same spot next to him. He grinned with one side of his mouth, the one away from where she could see.

She led him to her apartment. She unlocked and opened the door for him.

"thanks." Mulder said into her dark apartment.

She nodded and departed to go back to the car. Mulder witched on the light and slowly shuffled across the room towards the couch. So comfortable. Once he had flopped onto the couch, he knew he probably wouldn't be leaving it for a while.

His eyes started to droop. Across the room he heard Scully moving about, the unmistakable thump of their sports bags on the floor and her irritated huff from dragging them up too the apartment.

"Mulder? You're not sleeping there. You need to be in a bed."

"And why is that G-woman?" Mulder chortled.

"Mulder look at me."

He opened his eyes and tried to lift his head, which required his stomach muscles.

"Agh!" he grunted.

Scully came to stand over him.

"At least you can roll out of a bed without twisting." She took his hands. He tried not to giggle as he watched his partner lean back into the strain to pull him into a sitting position.

"A bed is more comfortable anyway." Mulder grinned.

She shrugged off the insinuation.

"Come on. You're sleeping in my bed. I'm taking the couch." She heaved him onto his feet.

"Feel free to join me." He threw over his shoulder as she gently pushed him towards her bedroom.

She threw a sceptical smile back at him and went back out into the lounge room. Mulder took his clothes off, exclusive of his blue boxer shorts. It took a fair amount of effort. He never realised how much he utilised his stomach muscles. It felt weird. He threw the comforter back and fell sideways into his bed. He looked at the white sheets.

"Want me to tuck you in too?" Scully said as she placed her hand on the door frame.

"I might die of shame if you did." He grinned. The fact that he was very exposed whilst in Scully's bedroom seemed to escape him. He flopped back onto the bed. She allowed him the dignity of getting his feet up by himself.

"I'm going to check the bandages before you go to sleep." She checked under the gauze and padding. "If what you say about your sleeping patterns is true, you'll be tossing and turning all night." She knelt down to change her angle and save her back any unnecessary strain. The wound was still bleeding, but the quantity was negligible.

"I'll change it in the morning." She said, smoothing over the replaced bandages.

Mulder grasped her hand and squeezed it; thanking her. After a long moment, he let her go. Scully stood again. She didn't leave; instead, she sat down on the bed next to him.

"I'm going to switch the air conditioner on. That should help. I'm not sure what the weather will be like tomorrow."

Mulder nodded and laced his fingers together across his stomach.

"Um…" Scully looked away, and then looked back. "I'll… be just down the hall if you need me."

"Thanks Scully." Mulder said as she left the room and turned out the light; leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He closed his eyes and listened to Scully moving about the lounge and the kitchen. He could see her in his mind, clear as day. Same as every night. Eventually, the hallway went dark, and the noises stopped. Mulder's mind continued.

Eventually, he managed to fall asleep, though it would have been after 3 in the morning before that happened. He felt plagued by the desire of something, _someone_, he had, but could not ever have. It hurt… so much.

-----------------

**Woop woop! Feeling great now. Lap partners chapter 19 will be published on the 27****th****. Why? Because it's the prom in that chapter, and that night is also my prom!! :D I figured that would be nice. I'm going to post some photos of my prom on Facebook, or somewhere for you guys to see, the link will come out either with that chapter, or chapter 20.**


	6. friday

**DISCLAIMER: I just checked my emails. Still no message from Chris Carter saying he's giving me ownership of this fantastic show. Sad face. **

**SUMMARY: Poor Frank and his anger management issues. Poor Frank for finding Mulder in Scully's bed. Poor Frank for... oh just read it. LOL**

**A/NOTE: Firstly, I finally realised how much I **_**need**_** to dedicate this chapter to Ilovenumber777!! Those reviews were great for me to read! Secondly... well there is no second. Hmm. Time I got my act together with my updating. Thank you guys for your perpetual patience! MWAH!! And **_**of course,**_** for Tashy, my XF twin, who I don't talk to enough. Shame on me, to the max. And to Dana42, who reviews every single one of my stories; I'm very lucky! :)**

**LITTLE ADD-ON: OMG, I just deleted three pages, Sweet coconuts and pineapples. I found the original, hand (yet horrendously) written copy. I must honour those sacred pages of my little blue book. If the storyline is crap, it's amateur! That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. :-P *if I got Mulder's car wrong, please note, Colin has my XF DVD collection and I can't remember *sniff sniff***

**WARNING****: this chapter contains violence and adult themes. Kiddies, turn away now. Do it. Or I'm telling your mother.**

----------

_08:24pm_

_Friday, three weeks later_

Mulder stepped out into the humid air and rubbed his abdominal oblique through his light cotton jacket. He was still tender from the Turner case but had recovered very well under the watchful eye of his medically educated partner. Holding beer and a movie in one hand, he fished his car keys from his pocket as he walked to his car. The street emitted calm before the storm sensation. The sun had fallen below the horizon as Mulder entered the store earlier, since then the orange sky bounced around the buildings except on the street lights that were waking up for a long nights work.

Mulder opened his door and leaned forwards, placing his purchases on the passenger seat of the land cruiser. He planted his hands on the driver seat and shifted his weight down.

He sighed. The wound was on the mend, but still hurt inside. The harness that held his gun holster dug in uncomfortably.

Perhaps the only good thing that came out of being shot is the doctor. Scully didn't release him from the hospital that was her apartment for a week. Since then she had been to his place every day to check his dressing. Normally he wouldn't let her maternal instincts run as uninhibited as this, but he never objected to her company.

He closed his eyes and rolled his neck around his shoulders; easing the stiffness.

With due care he sat down in the driver seat and shut the door. It was incredibly humid; he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. Finally he put the key in the ignition and began driving down the empty road and around the corner.

Being away from work for so long, his mind had become susceptible to drifting onto tangents.

As he cruised down the street, a cute little brunette in a skirt and shirt ensemble with a black jacket, stepping out of an Italian restaurant caught his eye. She had intrigued him; enough for him to do U turn and park on the other side of the road half a block away. He certainly never did this; he just wanted a better look at the woman. He parked with the bonnet ahead of the street lamp, casting the cabin into shadow.

----------

"So long as you enjoyed yourself Dana. That's what I was hoping for." Frank smiled as he opened the door for Scully.

"I did, thank you." She turned to Frank. She probably shouldn't have let the night carry out as long as it did. "I think there a few things you need to know Frank."

"Your place or mine?"

She hesitated. Did she hear him wrong?

"I'm sorry?"

"Nothing. What do you need to tell me?" he took her jacket and threw it over her shoulders. He ran his hands up and down her arms.

"I... actually, I don't think this is the time or place for this conversation." She turned out of his hands and walked around him.

A look of sheer cluelessness grew on Frank's face. He thrust his hands into the pockets of his jacket and turned to follow her.

"Why not?"

"Pardon?"

"Why not here and now? Given how well tonight went I'm worried about the kind of conversation you're afraid to discuss."

Scully slowed her pace. She looked up and down the empty street and up at the street light that had just flickered on. She stopped and turned to face Frank.

"I'm sorry I didn't say this sooner. I really am, Frank."

He bent his head down to her and stared intently.

"Over the last few weeks, I've been thinking a lot about you and me. I realised Frank, that I do love you..."

Relief washed over his face. He grinned and looked down at his feet; shifting his weight left and right as he did.

"But I'm not in love with you."

He stopped to stare blankly at her. She continued.

"And I don't think I ever will be. For that reason, it would not be fair, to you, for us to continue like this."

She watched as he progressed through many emotions. Confusion, understanding, frustration and then irritation. He went to speak a few times but the words were caught in his mouth. He looked around behind him. Finding what he was looking for, he took her by the arm and lightly pulled her towards an alley. He let her go past the entrance but continued down deeper into the blackness.

He had a strong understanding of her pride. The both felt a fight was imminent; it was best done in relative privacy.

She felt secure enough to follow him. He had taken her out straight from work so she still had her 9mm Smith holstered behind back, hidden under her shirt and black jacket. Finally her stopped and turned to face her.

Frank closed his fist and began tapping it on his other hand.

"It's your partner isn't it? The Fox guy." He shifted his weight between his feet again and leant into her personal space. She stood her ground and didn't lean away.

"What are you talking about? Alright yes, Mulder is my partner at work and good friend outside of that... but he has nothing to do with this."

"Are you sure about that?" he frowned. Evidently, he didn't handle break ups well at all.

She didn't reply. She had to think about that one. Yes. It was true. Mulder had nothing to do with how she felt about Frank. It was also true, she loved Mulder too. With a greater depth than that she did Frank, grown from their experiences together and the time they had spent developing trust and respect. Oh hang on. Maybe this does involve Mulder.

"Well?"

She came back to reality abruptly.

"Well what?"

"Why didn't you tell me before?" he repeated.

"Because I wasn't sure. Like I said, it took me a few weeks to come to this conclusion. I realised... that with you... there are parts of me that, just aren't attracted to you. I'm sorry." She chose her words very carefully; at least, she thought she had.

He stopped tapping his fist. He pursed his lips and wrapped one hand around the other.

"I'm not enough for you." he whispered, almost inaudibly; taking slow casual steps forwards. At the risk of being run over, Scully took a few steps backwards.

"I don't satisfy you, do I? I'm not... what Dana Scully... wants." He mocked. A low rumbling chuckle escaped his lips.

This was not good.

He had once said, over a lunch, that he had had a few 'indiscretions' in the past, which resulted in months of anger management treatment. She let the thought go at the time, because he was always, incredibly calm.

He put his hands together as if he were praying. He rotated his wrists backwards and forwards, pointing and retreating.

She went to speak. To tell him to calm down, though at the moment she couldn't say that was necessary. Maybe to tell him that that wasn't true. But it was. She didn't know what to say, but maybe it was better to let him ride his frustration out in his own way, lest she stir his emotions further.

"I must be too nice. I mean, being able to bring your partner home to meet your parents is not, in any way, a desirable trait. Surely not."

Before she saw even a twitch in his arm; he drove his palm into the wall behind her, the inside of his elbow mere inches from the corner of her eye. She didn't realise she had been slowly moving backwards the whole time. He must have had long arms, because when she flailed her hand behind her, she found she couldn't reach the wall. But it was there to be sure.

She froze. She refused to turn her face away from him. It was the only act of pride that she could hold onto now.

----------

It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the light. He watched the woman and her male accomplice talk on the side walk for a moment. Eventually he realised he was watching Scully. In the light she looked like a brunette, which must have thrown him a bit. So her man she was with must be Frank. Tall with messy brown hair and a lanky swagger as he walked. God, he looked familiar.

It occurred to him that watching his partner from his car easily constituted stalker-like behaviour. And he hadn't driven away....why? The question brought out an array of questions. None of which he answered. He just let the questions flow through his brain in the hope they might fall out his ears, and not come back.

Amidst his mental tangent, he observed Frank take Scully by the arm and pull her into an alley way. Not that he had ever asked, but Mulder never picked Scully as the voyeuristic type. This notion tingled his spidey sense. This was not right; he could feel it.

Mulder ran his right hand across the passenger seat until it collided with the hardened leather of his holster. Silently, he pulled it towards him and up onto his lap. His breathing shuddered and echoed throughout the cabin.

An audible ting and the sound of cold metal sliding across furry leather filled his ears and send adrenaline racing.

_Inhale._

_Exhale._

_Inhale..._

_Exhale._

The vicious cycle continued over and over at a maddening pace. Slowly, he moved his hand to the handle, paused, and then opened the door, only a fraction. With his knuckles, he pushed it open wider; past the quiet creek.

The street light washed over his jeans, then his grey shirt as he slid out the vehicle. A glance up the street confirmed that it was still deserted. Warily, Mulder unzipped his jacket and attached his holster to the left side clip on coffee coloured harness around his chest. He zipped his jacket back up.

The humidity was not friendly, but the cool breeze that had moved in after sunset had a good bite to it.

With one last look up and down the street, Mulder crossed over to the other side and approached the right side of entrance to the dark alley way.

He had no chance of seeing anything down the alley, so he would have to rely on his hearing to assess the situation.

Assess the situation? So technical. This was Scully. She was certainly scientific, but he never found anything technical about her.

Finally he stopped. He leant against the wall at the entrance and turned his ears towards the darkness.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump._

Damn. His heart was getting in his way.

----------

The loud thumping in her chest must have bounced off every brick surrounding them.

With his incredible height and the strength he had from being male; she was at great risk of being hurt. Frank had the power to do many things, and doing a lot of physical and emotional damage was certainly the ones at risk now. She felt so threatened. She considered Frank physically equal to Mulder. She was so used to gentle giants, the aggressive ones where an unpleasant surprise.

"Frank..." she warned. Her sympathy was waning dramatically.

He brought his hand up to the crease at the base of her neck. His hands were soft and callous free; they had never done a day's hard work.

"You're so fragile for someone so _in love _with danger." The tips of his fingers brushed her collar. She went to push his hand away.

She wasn't sure how it happened. She ignored the how, and focussed on the fact that it did happen. His hand clamped down across her collar bone and pushed her straight into the wall. The impact was sharp and he bent his forearm into her chest. She felt a great pressure in the base of her spine as her 9mm dug into the bone. Her head whipped back into the cold bricks. The pain went as soon as it came and was quickly replaced with a pulsating throb.

She gasped and ground her eyes shut. There was a weight pushing into her stomach. Franks lips closed in on her ears, so close she could feel the air move as he spoke.

"I bet you weren't expecting this, Dana." He whispered.

His breath swirled around her ear and moisture lingered on the lobe; in the breeze, her skin was so cold from the layer of sweat. He rubbed his thumb up of the soft skin of her throat.

She struggled against him in a panic. Her efforts went unnoticed and she found her arms being pressed against the wall, either side her head. His grip was tight and the fine metal of the watch cut into her left wrist. She could feel the tiny trickles of blood run down her arm and blend with sweat; staining her white blouse.

"At least you're not the screaming type." He looked her in the eye. Through the darkness she saw his eyes were distant but cut into her. She had never seen him look at her like that. There was a sick desire in his gaze, almost predatory.

She summed up the effort to try and free herself. For a moment, she had succeeded and left his grasp on her left hand release. No sooner had his had left her wrist, than it found her neck again. This time, there was no caress.

His hands were huge. It clamped around more than half her neck. She grabbed his hand and tried to pull at it. The more she struggled, the tighter his grip became. In an effort to do some damage, she tried to take a side swing at his head.

Her fist collided with the right side of his jaw with a loud wack. His head snapped to the left and remained for a moment. He rotated his jaw around and spat out a stream of sticky blood. He finally turned back to her with a snarl forming on his lips.

His nails dug into her skin and he pulled her body forwards a foot or so, only to send it back into the wall with incredible force. Her head collided with the wall for a second time. The pain did not subside as it had before. It lingered and seeped into her skull. She could feel her brain rattle and a sharp pain force in her neck.

----------

He stopped and listened carefully. It was so dark down the alleyway; he would be seen as soon as he entered. What he needed was a miracle. Not that he would normally ask god for one, but he was desperate enough in a situation such as this.

'God, help me out here.' He thought.

He licked the roof of his mouth, which had gone dry a long time ago. He thought he heard a mumbling voice. Then a thump echoed from the depths of the alley, and then the same voice again.

Behind him, the street light flickered, and then died. Mulder looked up at it, his mouth partially agape. He looked around him. The pathway surrounding the entrance to the alley had been thrown into darkness.

'Remind me to thank you later.'

He crouched lower took a few hesitant steps into the alley. It would take time for his eyes to adjust. He did, however, find the outline of a large industrial sized dumpster. He put his hand out in front of him till he felt the cold steel against the tips of his fingers.

He crouched for what seemed like too long; listening to the sounds coming from his partner. He wanted to be sure the situation was as it appeared to him. God forbid, he was wrong, she may never forgive him. He trusted his gut feeling, because more often than not, she trusted it.

He could now see the outline of each brick on the wall across from him. Not a moment too soon. Two sounds drew panic to him. The sound of a fist hitting solid bone, a pause bone colliding with something more solid and then a feminine gasp.

Despite the consequences of such an action; he planted his left hand over the zipper on his jacket, and unzipped it with his right; muffling the sound. Carefully, he pulled his 9mm from the holster. His fist closed tightly around the pistol grip.

He frowned deeply and peered down the alley as far as he could; his ears burning for a sign, any sign, to step in. In the distance, against the opposite wall, was the outline of two figures.

He watched them intently. In the darkness, their minor movements were too difficult to see.

----------

Her head rolled around her shoulders and she blinked again and again, trying desperately to bring the world back into focus. Stars twinkled in front of her eyes for a moment. She soon realised why: Frank was putting pressure across what felt like the entirety of her neck. She tried to draw in a breath, and found very little of the precious oxygen came.

Frantically, she tried to grasp at his hand. Her coordination was already inhibited.

She doubted whether Frank would be able to kill her. But the fear was certainly there. For a moment, as she struggled against him, she felt entirely alone and, even more entirely helpless.

Now, she needed Mulder.

A ringing sounded in her ears and as her lungs began to ache, she let her body go limp. Her eyes became unfocussed and she felt so nauseated. She lost all energy and let her knee's buckle.

To her surprise, Frank let her fall to the ground. She crumpled to the ground and let the darkness rise above her. The pressure on her back was finally gone.

Once her body settled, she felt an internal darkness sink in. She only observed two things. As she gazed blankly down the alleyway, she could see the silhouette of a person rise from the ground and move towards her. She heard Frank's shoes twit against the gravelly cement as he knelt down to whisper to her,

"Despite what I have done Dana, I will always be with you." His voice lowered further and sounded more sadistic. "Especially when you dream..."

Her world faded into black. The last thing she heard was a bang in the distance. It sounded so far away...

----------

He watched. His mind began to feel doubt about the situation.

No. There was no misunderstanding.

He watched carefully. His crouched position agitated his injury, but he felt none of it.

He wanted for her to resolve this for herself. She would risk her pride for only two things: her life and him. But even the latter was an only in extreme circumstances.

The taller of the two figures stepped back from the wall. That was Frank. Scully's body went limp and fell to the ground. Frank knelt down to her level. He didn't touch her.

Oh god.

Mulder was capable of losing a lot of whatever self control he had. This time, he lost his a lot of cognitive function too.

Without thinking, he rose from his position and walked uninhibitedly towards them. He could see the finer details of the two. He could see the white of Scully's eyes.

Her eyes cut into him.

"Especially when you dream..." Frank whispered to Scully's body. He rose above her and turned his head and looked Mulder in the eye.

Mulder made no reservation in emptying four shots into the ribs lining the right side of Frank's body.

----------

She floated back to reality with warmth wrapped around her body. Two great arms held her and a hand caressed her cheek. She felt exhausted.

She opened only one eye; just a little. Frank lay on the ground in front of them, in a pool of shimmering liquid.

Shimmering? She pushed her head a little back against the chest of her would be saviour and looked up. Far away, the waxing crescent off the icy moon shone down upon them. The face above her was a silhouette.

"It's okay. I got you Scully."

Mulder.

In relief, she turned her head into his chest and took a big breath. It hurt, but it felt so wonderful. With a renewed vitality, she opened her eyes and looked around them. On the ground near Mulder's knee, was his 9mm.

She sighed. They might argue about this later, but if she didn't do it, she'd only be able to talk to him through bars.

With effort, she twisted her right arm around and removed her own 9mm from her holster, and shoved it weakly into the holster hiding under Mulder's jacket. She picked up his gun and pulled it into her lap. She puffed a little.

Mulder said nothing, and simply pulled her further into his embrace.

In his arms, she let herself fall out of reality.

"Scully?" his voice showed fear.

"It's okay Mulder. You got me."

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***cough* Grrr, throat infection. Lovely. Sorry for the wait. Reviews would be amazingly appreciated! Peace and love philers 3 **


	7. saturday

**DISCLAIMER: would I need a disclaimer if I owned anything?**

**SUMMARY: time for a bit of Skinner. We all remember the suspicious circumstances of Frank's death, yeh? Well skinner has a brain in the beautiful shiny noggin of his.**

**A/NOTE: I feel the need for some Skinman :) time to refer back to my little blue book for this chapter. Oh, if you're adverse to slash fics (not that this is one) I am not to be held responsible should you brain land in the gutter during Skinner's interview with Mulder. A somewhat shorter chapter, but concentrated in goodness :D**

**----------**

_12:08am Saturday  
__Providence hospital  
__Washington DC, Virginia_

Mulder sat along one of the many blue vinyl seats that lined the corridor of Providence Hospital. His fingers were laced tightly around one another and locked deeply under his chin. His teeth ground together whenever he moved his jaw and the knuckle of his thumb drove into his throat. Including this discomfort, he fought off the frustration of exhaustion.

He felt the need to stretch after sitting in the same place for so long. He felt the weight of his head again as he dislodged his fists from beneath his chin. The skin between his fingers peeled away from one another as he flexed each digit out. He looked down at his fading and weary jeans. A large patch of muddy red blood had developed from his knee done to his socks and had begun staining the heel collar.

Frank had left a mark, though the one left with Scully would be more difficult to remove.

Mulder felt the drying blood cling to the hair on his legs as he stretched the denim away. He quickly gave up and dismissed the stain. Sort it out later. The police collected their statement from scully a long time ago. It felt like a long time.

"Agent Mulder?" a woman's voice pulled him out of his reverie. He felt a hand press lightly on his shoulder. He looked up and found a white coat, a clipboard and a friendly face.

"We're all done. Agent scully is pretty adamant about leaving, but she would like to see you first." She offered a smile.

Mulder nodded his thanks. With a sigh, he unstuck himself from the clingy chair and made his way to the examination room.

He knocked once. Twice. Pushing his ear closer to the door, he heard his partners reply. He entered.

He found his partner hastily pulling her jacket on and pulling her hair out of her collar. He caught a glimpse of the white of the bandage around her wrist. He stared at her and wondered what part of her logic was responsible for the activities of the previous night. She looked up at him, and then quickly averted her own gaze.

"Mulder, I just want to go home." She tried to put her watch on her right wrist with eventual success.

Mulder felt his head nodding up and down, ever so subtly. The space between them was but a few feet, though it was more awkward now than he felt in certainly a long time. There was no way he could make her come to him without a well defined invitation.

He took a few steps forwards. She refused to look him in the eye. She was taking the flack for him, and she had been hurt. He turned his hands out to her. This was his invitation. She looked at every part of him but his face.

Eventually, she came forth.

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_Saturday,  
__One week later  
__J Edgar Hoover building, Washington DC_

Walter skinner sat behind his desk, scanning over the final report of the Turner case, before it would be signed off and filed away. He leant back into the comfort of his leather chair and tossed his glasses onto his desk casually with a metallic scrape across varnish. He was restless; he had been all week. He stood and escaped the confines of his furniture, finding comfort in the window to the outside world. He rubbed his chin.

It was hot outside. The streets cast an orange glow over everything. Except his office.

He sighed.

A knock disturbed him and he saw the head of his secretary, Arlene, poke through his door.

"Agents Mulder and scully to see you, sir."

He licked his teeth.

"Send them in."

He hadn't seen his agents in the building together since before the turner case. First it was Mulder on leave for weeks, now it was scully. He had to do some cleaning up when each agent had taken time off during the others injury. The rumour mill worked overtime with both agents on leave.

He actively listened to the sounds of his agents' entry to his office. The sound of the door scraping over the carpet and the click of the shutting. The world in front of him fell out of focus. He turned and slide back into his chair, his plucked his glasses from in front of him and gestured bluntly for the agents to sit. This would not be a brief meeting.

Scully was beginning her week of half days today. Her councillor recommended her return to her usual schedule; the one she had before Frank. Mulder was now back on full days; the first since the raid on the Turner compound. By next week, he hoped, things would return to the dysfunctional norm he associated with the agents who chased aliens and shadow governments.

He passed a glance to his agents.

"I'm glad you've both managed to get back to work."

"Thank you sir." Scully replied.

"I'm ready to sign this case as closed; I just need your signature agent scully." He opened her case file, turned it around and offered it across the desk to his right.

Scully reached across her body to get the pen with her right hand. She signed on the dotted line and planted the pen on the file.

"You may go agent Scully, I'll need to talk further with Mulder." Without comment, Scully stood and left them. as soon as the door clicked shut, skinner spoke.

"Whilst scully may not be able to recall the exact details of the events of last week, I know there is something you and her are not saying."

Mulder remained silent.

He picked up his pen and examined it with great interest.

"Agent Scully is right handed. It's how she draws her gun...and how she holsters it too." He looked across at the agent in front of him. A single tiny bead of sweat gave way and slid down his face from his temple. Mulder did not acknowledge it.

"Help me to understand Mulder..." He stood. Mulder watched him. For only a second, skinner swore he saw fear in the man's eyes. He walked around into the middle of the dim office, tipping his head; beckoning the agent to join him.

"You armed?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Over there." He pointed to an open space of wall. Mulder shot him an eyebrow, wondering what he was up to. Skinner stared back; Mulder went and stood by the wall, arms folded across his chest.

Skinner linked his fingers together in front of his torso, thumbs pointing up; tapping together.

"Help me to understand Mulder... " he wandered slowly forward till he stood toe to toe with Mulder. "How a woman like Dana scully..." he pushed his hands forwards into Mulder's stomach, until he moved back into the wall. "Drew her gun from behind her right side..." he grabbed Mulder's left wrist with his right hand whilst using the other to push him into the wall. He manoeuvred Mulder's hand to touch the right side of his own ribcage.

"And shoot the man with her left?"

Mulder and he stared at each other for a minute. He imagined Mulder was getting a rather disgusting taste of what this situation was like for scully.

"She's covering for you, isn't she?"

"Yes." Mulder whispered. He sounded anxious.

"You let her?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because... " he closed his eyes and shook his head, only once, as if fighting off a thought. He leant forwards towards his boss and lowered his voice till it was nothing louder than a breath.

"Because I didn't want to go to prison and leave her alone."

"Because she didn't want you to leave her, I think."

With a nudge, skinner backed away.

"Some detectives may accept the possibility two partners will inadvertently swap their sidearms, or that an assault victim may not remember the event, or the divine coincident that you happened to be in the area." He turned away and retreated to his desk and stood by the window again.

"But you won't." Mulder suggested, stepping away from the wall and into the centre of the room.

He sighed and licked his lips. His hands slid into the pockets of his tailored pants. A dime danced between his fingers.

"I will accept the validity and_ truth_, of the case report sitting in that folder."

"Sir-" Mulder began.

"I'm done with you agent Mulder. You have work to do." He pulled the dime out and looked at the back: 1963. Ironic. Year of the Kennedy assassination.

He listened to the agents heavy footsteps approach the door, the click, the scraping across the carpet.

"Thank you."

The shutting of the door.

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**Now to think of an ending. Go skinner, I love him :) reviews will be given a good and loving home in my inbox, I assure you. Peace and love philers! 3**


	8. sunday

**Disclaimer: would I need a disclaimer if I actually owned anything?**

**Summary: Mulder and scully need to talk. **

**A/note: gosh, it's been a while! Soon as I realised how long I'd been away, the more I began to miss being here. Final chapter! This went far longer than first anticipated, but that's perfectly okay. Ah yes, for the twilight fans, I'm assisting a new twilight writer to start a career. :) Anyhoo, 'nuff of my rambling. **

_Sunday 08:24am_

_The Reflection pool_

_Washington DC, Virginia_

Mulder sat on his favourite bench in front of the reflection pool, staring at the moving surface of the waters, his right arm flung carelessly across the backrest. He rolled a cashew between his teeth, not satisfied enough with it to swallow. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a small, familiar set of feminine hands plant themselves on the back rest near his left shoulder. He felt a mild, but lingering pain at the sight of scully's bandage.

"Careful Mulder. You could go blind from the reflected sunlight." Probably not true, but it was something to talk about.

"It's like watching a bad movie. You know you should look away, but you really can't."

"Sounds more like McDonalds."

Mulder's lips twitched upwards for a moment. He begrudgingly swallowed the cashew. He straightened up and folded his arms across his chest. Scully's arms came into view as she leant forwards on her elbows. They sat for a while; the breeze picked up and the waters chopped about in streams.

"I have a therapy session today with Doctor Beaumont this afternoon. Probably one of very few therapists in the tri-state area that work on a Sunday." She said in a low tone. A silence hung in the air around them and Mulder let out a deep sigh.

"Ever wonder how long that thing takes to be cleaned?" He turned his head slightly towards scully.

"A very long time I think." She said, gazing over the waters. Mulder looked back and nodded. With an exaggerated heave, Mulder detached himself from the bench. They began walking slowly towards the car park.

"What time is your appointment?"

"Two o'clock."

"Hmm, I think it's time to go for a drive."

Scully was about to be administered a bit of Mulder therapy, which he had done before. When she had had a bad day, he took her for a drive to wherever they ended up.

They were yet to sit and talk about the events of 7 days ago. Though Mulder very much wanted to, being possibly the only person she would be willing to talk to, he couldn't find the best way to approve the subject.

Mulder knew where he was going; they set out onto what scully assumed was a randomly chosen highway, passing through small towns of blurred and untold names with who knows who singing on the radio. It was nice to detach herself from the world, even if only for a day.

After several hours she realised that they had hardly spoken a word the entire trip. She was yet to tell her mother about last Sunday. Eventually she would. She considered her partner across the car. Who else was there to talk to really?

"I'm still not sure why it happened."

She looked over at Mulder. He frowned but didn't take his eyes from the road.

How could she tell him certain things, without telling him _certain things_?

"I mean, I understand why he acted that way."

"Scully?"

"Not that I sympathise with him." she ran a hand along her collar bone. "I don't know what I saw in him. I decided I like him based on the sheer look-"

It finally clicked. Though she hoped that Mulder hadn't.

"I thought he was kind of ugly personally." Mulder offered. She smiled weakly at his attempt to humour her,

"There were certain parts of him, that, for some reason, I couldn't help but feel attracted to." Despite the awkwardness, she pressed on. "I always thought I would be into blondes, for one."

Mulder smiled at cast a brief glance to her, before returning his eyes to the road. Awkwardness lifted.

"Thank you, by the way." Nope, awkwardness returned.

"For what?"

"Being there."

He could have said it was all coincidence, but that would have made her thanks redundant.

"Ah scully, I say thank you everyday too."

"Why?"

"For being there. I called in a favour that night and for the first time, my prayer was answered."

She smiled. He felt this was an appropriate time as any to continue, albeit a little of topic.

"Thanks scully."

"For what, Mulder?"

"For being _right_ _here._"

"I'm always going to be here for you Mulder."

"And I'll do my best to be here for you too Scully."

They fell into a very comfortable silence for the remainder of the trip. She felt both a little guilty and somewhat enlightened by the realisation that it was features she saw in Mulder everyday that had initially attracted her to Frank. Mulder knew that they had expressed some things here that they had never intended to say aloud. He knew this would open a door here or there, but where they would take them, though he wasn't sure, he was anxious to find out.

That afternoon, scully stepped into Doctor Beaumont's red themed room and sat down on the long crimson leather sofa. This was uncomfortable. She knew this without a doubt.

"Welcome Dana. How's your day been so far?"

Doctor Beaumont was an English lady in her early thirties. Her black hair was pulled back into a bun and her glasses sat high on her nose. She carried no clipboard or notebook and sat comfortably in couch of to one side of the room, at just the right angle that scully could just as easily look her in her eye, or not.

"I'm doing okay."

"I'm glad to hear it." She smiled.

There was a knock at the door. Beaumont went to stand, as the door open behind scully.

"You must be Mr. Mulder."

"The one and only." Well, it was true. Unfortunately. Scully stood and turned around.

"Dana told e she wanted a friend to be present during our meetings."

"Glad you could make it Mulder." Scully smiled.

"Well I did make a promise didn't I?"

It was then Doctor Beaumont realised she may be missing something. It was not unusual for victims of assault to bring friends along with them. Though she had to confess this was the first time a woman had brought her male work partner. To be fair, from what she had been told about these two, they had been working together for a long time, and he was present during the incident, and was the one who had called the ambulance. Unusual but certainly accountable. She offered him the couch.

"Please, won't you sit down?"

She didn't miss the prolonged glance that past between the two agents. The kind of look two friends gave each other.

**And now it's up to you. Reviews would be greatly appreciated.**


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